Offseason news is dominated with big trades (like the Miami Marlins shipping a part of their roster to the Toronto Blue Jays) and wondering where star free agents like Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton will sign. But there’s a lot of small moves Major League clubs make in an effort to improve their teams and the Royals are no different.

Last week, the Royals traded reliever Jeremy Jeffress to Toronto for cash and reliever Tommy Hottovy to the Texas Rangers for cash and our old friend player to be named later. And on Monday outfielder Jason Bourgeois elected to become a free agent. Earlier this month, the Royals designated the three players for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Jeffress, 25, appeared in 13 games with the Royals with a 6.75 ERA. He’s out of options and the Jays will give him to opportunity to make the team. Kansas City native and lefty specialist Hottovy, 31, appeared in nine games with the Royals with a 2.89 ERA and hopes to be a part of the Ranger’s bullpen. Bourgeois, 30, had a .258 average in 30 games with the Royals and has yet to sign with a team.

With their limited roles, Jeffress and Hottovy were the odd men out in an already solid bullpen. And Bourgeois was expendable since the Royals already have speedy outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson on their roster.

To be honest, Jeffress, Hottovy and Bourgeois had a small role with the Royals and they weren’t going to be a part of the team’s future. These minor moves in the middle of November will be a fading memory as the 2013 season commences. But it’s the business of baseball and I hope Jeffress, Hottovy and Bourgeois have good luck with their new teams.

Farewell to Mitch Maier.

Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long.

The Royals designated Maier for assignment Thursday, stocking up on pitchers during the dog-days leading up to the All Star Game. It looks like this is the end of the road for Maier, who has spent most of the past six seasons with the big league team.

I actually thought this might happen a couple of years earlier, but Maier just kept hanging around. He played good defense, was a positive presence, and even pitched a few times when the team was in a pinch.

But he just wasn’t good enough. Not for a team that wants to contend.

I take this as a positive sign.

The fact that Maier was on the team at all the last several years told me that the Royals just weren’t any good. But Maier kept working his way onto the roster because the old guys who were supposed to start got hurt, or the young guys weren’t quite ready.

Something must be different now, because the Royals finally deem Maier expendable.

“We’ve got so many young outfielders we want to look at,” said manager Ned Yost about the decision to let Maier go. “He was a great guy to have on your team as your fourth or fifth outfielder. But being mostly left-handed in the outfield, we needed a right-handed bat in [Jason] Bourgeois and we’ve got [Jarrod] Dyson, [Lorenzo] Cain’s coming back soon and we’ve got [Wil] Myers on the horizon.”

The Royals carried just four outfielders into Thursday’s game in Toronto. But Bourgeois can play all three outfield spots, so they seem to be comfortable with a lighter bench. Bourgeois has a much higher ceiling than does Maier, and apparently Cain and Myers could be coming to KC shortly.

To improve as a team, you need to have a roster full of good players. Cain and Myers have more talent in their pinky than Maier has on his best day. To get better, the team has no room for someone like Maier.

I know that sounds harsh. I’ve talked to Mitch Maier, and he seems like a good guy. By all accounts he’s a great teammate. But when someone is described as “the consummate professional,” it’s like saying that a girl has a great personality. Maier was doing all he could with his limited skills, but that girl isn’t someone you invite to the prom.

Good luck Mitch. I hope you land somewhere and continue your career. I’m surprised how many other Royals are able to find a place in the league.

But this move can only be seen as a sign of progress, and it was high time for you to go.

Triple-A

The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) went 4-2 over the last week improving to 44-27 on the season.  The Storm are leading the Northern Division by 14 games over the Iowa Cubs.

Who’s Hot

The Storm Chasers have continued to pile up runs on offense.  One of the best offenses in minor league baseball, got great weeks from Wil Myers and Irving Falu.  Myers, has lived on the hot list all season long.  In his past ten games he is hitting .350 (14-for-40) with three home runs, nine RBI, and 13 runs scored.  Falu has not been far behind hitting .351 (13-for-37) with three home runs and 12 RBI, to go along with 11 runs scored in his last ten games.  Blaine Hardy turned in his best Triple-A performance this past week. He went four innings allowing just one-hit while striking out four against Round Rock.

Who’s Not

Outfielder Jason Bourgeois is on the cold list despite heating up of late.  The outfielder is hitting .231 with two runs scored in his last five games.  Will Smith has hit a rough patch after being sent down from Kansas City to Omaha.  In his last two starts, the left-hander is 0-1, having worked ten and a third innings allowing 16 hits and nine runs.

Double-A

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) went 3-4 over the past week getting swept by Tulsa on the road, splitting a four-game set with the Cardinals on the road, and taking the first of an eight game home stand against the Drillers.  The Naturals sit in second place in the Texas League’s North Division four games behind Tulsa.

Who’s Hot

Paulo Orlando seems to be returning to the form that many fans remember.  After a spring injury and a cool start, Orlando’s bat has heated up in June.  The outfielder is hitting .378 (14-for-37) over his last nine games with six runs scored.  On the mound for the Naturals Buddy Baumann turned in a solid week in relief.  The left-hander appeared in three games for the Naturals working four innings allowing three hits, while striking out five.  He also picked up his first save of the season on June 17 in Springfield.

Who’s Not

Eric Duncan seems to always come through with a big clutch hit, but is hitting just .188 (6-for-32) with one home run and three RBI.  Elisaul Pimentel had been on a hot streak, but had a rough outing on his last trip to the hill.  Pimentel is 0-2, having worked nine innings allowing 18 hits and 11 earned runs.

Class-A Advanced

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) went 1-5 over the past week dropping to 29-41 on the season.  The Blue Rocks have fallen to third place in the North Division and trail the Lynchburg Hillcats by 10.0 games for the division lead.

Who’s Hot

The Blue Rocks offense has continued to be sparked by shortstop Alex McClure.  McClure hit .304 (7-for-23) over the team’s last ten games.  He entered the season well-known for his defensive abilities.  Edwin Carl has continued to shine on the mound for the Blue Rocks since being promoted from Kane County.  In two outings last week he worked four and a third innings allowing just three hits and striking out five.

Who’s Not

Brian Fletcher has fallen into a slump.  The outfielder is still tops on the team in hitting with a .289 batting average, but has hit just .159 over the team’s last ten games.  Cole White has been hit hard in his last two outings in relief.  White has allowed six hits and six runs, while issuing seven walks in his last five innings of work.
 

Class-A

The Kane County Cougars went 1-5 over the past week making them 34-36 on the season.  The Cougars fell to fifth place in the Midwest League’s western division and are 10.5 games out of first place.

Who’s Hot

Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio is hitting everything that pitchers are throwing to him right now.  The 19-year-old is hitting .333 over his last ten games with two home runs and an impressive 15 RBI.  On the mound for the Cougars, Jason Mitchell has turned things around.  In his last two trips to the hill Mitchell has worked 11 innings allowing eight hits and one run while striking out 10.

Who’s Not

Infielder Michael Antonio went through a tough week last week for the Cougars.  He hit just .143 (5-for-35) with one run scored and one RBI.  Aaron Brooks has not been missing many bats lately on the mound.  The right-hander has allowed 21 hits and 14 runs in his last 11.2 innings (2 appearances).

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) went 2-4 over their last eight games and now sit at 27-18 on the season as they finish up a trip to the west coast.  The Storm Chasers have the third best record in the PCL trailing Sacramento and Fresno, but lead their division by eight games.

Who’s Hot
Offensively for the Storm Chasers Tony Abreu and Clint Robinson each have continued to swing hot bats.  Robinson is hitting .351 with 10 RBI over his last ten games.  Abreu is hitting at a .324 clip over his last ten contests and has two home runs, six RBI, and seven runs scored in that time.  Both players have been hot all season offensively with Robinson hitting .315 with 29 RBI, and Abreu checking in at .333 with 24 RBI.  Will Smith has been getting things done on the mound in Omaha.  He has allowed just three runs in 14.2 innings over his last two starts.  Smith is 1-3 on the season with a 4.01 ERA in nine starts this season.

Who’s Not
Jason Bourgeois has continued to struggle at the plate after being sent down to Triple-A.  Bourgeois was one of the players acquired in Spring Training from the Houston Astros in exchange for left-hander Kevin Chapman.  He is hitting .135 (5-for-37) over his last ten games with two RBI.  Vin Mazzaro also had a tough outing his last time on the mound for the Storm Chasers.  In his last Triple-A start Mazzaro went five and a third inning allowing nine hits and five runs, despite striking out seven.

Double-A

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) are now 24-coming off of their best road trip of the season.  The Naturals went 5-3 on the trip, including a sweep of the Tulsa Drillers, that has pulled them within one game of the lead in the North Division.

Who’s Hot
Catcher Julio Rodriguez is more known for his defense than his offense, but he has had one of the hottest bats in the Texas League over the past week.  Rodriguez is hitting .409 (9-for-22) over his last eight games with three runs scored and two RBI.  Yem Pradesis seeing his bat heat up again as well going 6-for-16 (.375) over his last five contests.  Prades also hit his second home run of the season during that span.  On the mound for the Naturals Patrick Keating has been lights out in May.  The right-hander has appeared in six games, tossing seven innings, and allowing just two hits, while striking out 10.

Who’s Not
First baseman Johnny Whittleman has hit his first slump of the season.  Whittleman is just 5-for-30 over his last nine games (.167), but when he has hit the ball it has been hard.  He has hit two home runs over that stretch to give him seven on the season.  Elisaul Pimentel had his strongest outing of the season in his first start of the year against Tulsa, but struggled his last time on the hill against the Arkansas Travelers.  Pimentel went three and two-thirds innings allowing five hits and three runs in his second start of the season.

Class-A Advanced

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) went 5-2 last week and are now 20-23 on the season and in second place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division.  The Blue Rocks are trailing the Lynchburg Hillcats by four game and open the week with a series against third place Potomac.

Who’s Hot
Brian Fletcher and Kevin David have been providing the offense for the Blue Rocks over their last ten games.  David is hitting .417 (10-for-24) with a home run and six RBI.  The catcher has also scored four times in his last eight games.  Fletcher is continuing to be a force at the plate hitting .325 in his last ten games with one home run, seven RBI, and eight runs scored.  The outfielder has pulled his average up to .308 for the season with three home runs and 19 RBI in 42 games.  Yordano Ventura has been hot on the mound for the Blue Rocks.  The starting pitcher has gone 2-0 in his last two trips to the hill allowing only five hits and one run in 13 innings, while striking out 13.

Who’s Not
Outfielder Geulin Beltre, who appeared in some spring training games with the Naturals, has gone 4-for-32 (.094) over his last nine games with one home run and two RBI.  Tyler Sample continues to bounce back and forth between the hot and not lists.  In his last two outings Sample has logged nine innings of work allowing 12 hits and nine runs.

Class-A

The Kane County Cougars went 3-4 over the past week and they now sit at 23-22 on the season.  The Cougars are in third place in the Midwest League’s Western division, but are just 5.0 games behind the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for the division lead.

Who’s Hot
Infielder Michael Antonio has been hitting everything in sight over his last nine games.  Antonio has gone 13-for-35 (.371) with eight runs scored, two home runs, and 10 RBI.  Jorge Bonifacio is back on another one of his hot streaks as well.  The young outfielder is hitting .341 (14-for-41) over his last ten games with nine runs scored, a home run and five RBI.  On the mound for the Cougars Edwin Carl has continued to be one of the best pitchers in the Midwest League.  In his last two outings Carl has logged 13 innings allowing 12 hits and three runs, while striking out seven.  The right-hander is 4-2 on the season with a 1.79 ERA in 50.1 innings of work.

Who’s Not
Shortstop Orlando Calixte, who was on the hot list just two weeks ago, has cooled off recntly.  He is 4-for-34 (.118) over his last nine games.  On the mound for the Cougars Kellen Moen is coming off one of his worst outings of the season.  Moen allowed ten hits and five runs in four and two-thirds innings.  He is 2-2 on the season with a 5.05 ERA in 46.1 innings of work.

Alumni Report (Former Naturals outside the Kansas City organization) 

Who’s Hot
Ernesto Mejia is putting together his best month of the season, so far in May.  The first baseman is hitting a blistering .357 (25-for-70) so far in May with four home runs and 17 RBI.  He has 32 RBI on the season, which ranks him sixth in the International League.  Outfielder Tim Smith, who was recently signed by the Atlanta Braves, was promoted to Double-A Mississippi last week.  In two games with the Braves Smith has gone 2-for-4 with a run scored an RBI and two walks.

Who’s Not
Josh Johnson who is now with Triple-A Syracuse in the Washington Nationals organization is 5-for-28 (.179) over his last nine games, but has managed to score eight runs and knock in four over that stretch.   Chris McConnell, who is also in the Nationals organization with Double-A Harrisburg is struggling at the plate as well.  He is hitting just .167 over his last seven games.

Kila Ka’aihue has been struggling recently in the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics.  The first baseman is 3-for-20 in his last seven games, but does have two RBI, including a game winner over that stretch.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Triple-A
The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) went 4-2 over the past six days making them 21-10 trailing only the Fresno Grizzlies who are 23-8 on the campaign in the race for the best record in the Pacific Coast League.  The Storm Chasers have remained hot despite sending several more players up to the Royals including Nate Adock and most recently Irving Falu.

Who’s Hot
The offense has continued to carry the Storm Chasers to wins providing walk-off victories on two consecutive nights thanks to home runs by Cody Clark and Johnny Giavotella.  Giavotella has been on fire since the calendar turned over to may hitting .458 (11-for-24) in the first six games of the month.  He has also hit two home runs and knocked in eight, while working six walks over that span.  On the mound for the Storm Chasers a pair of pitchers who returned from the Kansas City Royals have been on.  Everett Teafordtossed five and two thirds innings in his first start of the season in Triple-A.  Louis Coleman has allowed just three hits and one run over five and a third innings of work.

Who’s Not
Sean O’Sullivan looked to have found it working and inning and a third scoreless innings in his last appearance against Oklahoma City, but prior to that he allowed nine hits and five runs over five and a third innings in his previous two relief outings.  Jason Bourgeois has struggled at the plate since being demoted to Triple-A.  He is hitting .200 (6-for-30) in his first seven games of the season, but has hit a home run.

Double-A
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) are back to .500 after at 15-15 and have won the first two games of a four game homestand against the Tulsa Drillers to pull within five games of the Drillers for the North Division lead.  The Naturals have been brilliant at Arvest Ballpark this season going 12-4 at home.

Who’s Hot
Wil Myers who was named the Texas League Player of the week (April 23-29) has continued to be the best player on the field nearly every night.  Myers has homered in three of his last four games and is hitting a healthy .336 on the season to lead the Texas League.  He is also tops on the Naturals with 22 RBI, knocking home seven runs in his last four games.  On the mounc Jake Odorizzi has been just as good as advertised winning the Texas League Pitcher of the week (April 30-May 6) and turning in a seven and a third inning eleven strikeout performance his last time out on the mound.

Who’s Not
Julio Rodriguez is still trying to find his rhythm at the plate going 7-for-36 in his first ten games of the season.  He has delivered some key hits knocking in three runs in ten games on the season.  On the mound for the Naturals Chris Dwyer is coming off his worst start of the season and will look to rebound later in the week.  Last time out Dwyer went three innings allowing five hits and ten runs, seven of which were earned, while walking a season high six.

Class-A Advanced
The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) went just 2-4 last week and after getting back and are now 12-17 on the season sitting in third place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division trailing the Potomac Nationals by just one game for second.

Who’s Hot
Brian Fletcher has been giving opposing pitchers nightmares so far in the month of May.  The former Auburn Tiger is hitting .348 in the month of May lifting his average to .314 on the season.  Nick Rogers turned in what has become a run of the mill performance out of the bullpen on Saturday going two innings allowing just one hit and fanning three.  Rogers has yet to allow and run this season and have fanned 12 in 11 innings of work.

Who’s Not
Catcher Kenny Swab is still trying to find himself at the plate this season in limited playing time.  The backstop has appeared in ten games for the Blue Rocks and is hitting .094 (3-for-32) on the season.  Sam Runion had a couple of tough appearances in the last week allowing four runs in five and a third innings of work, but for the season he has now allowed just five runs over 13 innings.

Class-A
The Kane County Cougars went 3-2 over the past week and they now sit at 14-16 on the season.  The Cougars are sitting in fifth place in the Midwest League’s Western division, but are just 4.5 games behind the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for the division lead.

Who’s Hot
Outfielder Lane Adams has continued to be one of the focal points of the Cougar offense.  He is hitting a cool .330 with a home run and 18 RBI on the campaign.  On the mound for the Cougars, Santiago Garrido is undefeated on the season, going 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA over 26.1 innings of work.

Who’s Not
First baseman Murray Watts is still trying to hit for a better average, but his power swing has definitely been there.  Despite hitting just .191 on the season Watts has popped five home runs and driven home 13.  Aaron Brooks is coming off of a pair of rough starts allowing seven runs in his last 11 innings of work to go along with 15 hits.

Alumni Report (Former Naturals outside the Kansas City organization)

Who’s Hot
Corey Smith turned in a great week for Double-A Birmingham posting a .407 batting average, to go along with four doubles and four RBI.  Blake Johnson made three scoreless appearances for Double-A Chattanooga in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.  He logged two and a third innings surrendering just one hit and striking out two.

Jeff Bianchi posted a .300 average for the week while with Double-A Huntsville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, and earned his first career promotion to Triple-A on Saturday.

Who’s Not
Dusty Hughes got knocked around this past week working a third of an inning allowing two hits, walking two, and surrendering three runs.  Hughes had been one of the hottest pitcher for the Atlanta Braves Triple-A affiliate prior to that outing.  Jordan Parraz, also with the Gwinnett Braves had a rough week at the plate going 0-for-16 with six strikeouts.

Josh Johnson who is now with Triple-A Syracuse in the Washington Nationals organization is 1-for-16 with a walk and three strikeouts.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

The Kansas City Royals are off to a horriffic 3-12 start and fans are demanding some answers.

It is not HIS fault

Nobody saw this coming. While opinions of what these 2012 Kansas City Royals would be varied some, there was nobody who believed the Royals would be this bad. And we are still less than 10% into the season, starting the season by losing your first 10 home games is no way for an organization to endear itself to its fans. While nobody believes the Royals will continue play at a .200 clip, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify watching games on television, or ponying up the cash to take your family out to the K. It is getting very depressing seeing all of the empty seats, all of the double-plays, a different leadoff hitter every night, and on and on. So it is time that we, the fans of this organization who have had to put up with this garbage for the last 20 years, got some answers.

Imagine for a second, that we, the Royals fans, are the judge and jury on this matter. We have every player and member of the Royals organization in one room. It is time to find out once and for all who is at fault for this nightmare.

In doing so, the easiest thing to do is to acknowledge those whose fault it is definitely NOT. Therefore, we will go ahead and excuse the following individuals from the room:

-Billy Butler-you are hitting exactly as we expected
-Bruce Chen-you have unexpectedly been every bit as good as we could have possibly hoped
-Danny Duffy-despite some struggles in your last outing, you have been pretty darn good
-Alcides Escobar-You have played outstanding defense, stolen some bases, and are hitting better than we could have asked
-Chris Getz/Yuniesky Betancourt-Not much was expected of this 2B duo, and they have been surprisingly somewhat effective

-Sluggerr

-Humberto Quintero/Brayan Pena-See Getz/Betancourt above. Except Pena, will you please stop grounding into double-plays in key situations?
-Mitch Maier-As expected has been used sparingly, but performed alright
-Jason Bourgeois-See Maier above, with the exception of an extremely ill-advised stolen base attempt the other night
-Mike Moustakas-Has been pretty much exactly as expected, with the exception of his defense, which has been far better than expected.
-Lorenzo Cain-your injury excuses you from any blame for this mess

As for the rest of you…

Eric Hosmer, you can leave. You have shown flashes of what you can do, have 3 (4 now as I write this) Home Runs, are hitting the ball hard (just right at the other team), and look to be adjusting to the way you are being pitched to.

The rest of you better make yourselves comfortable. Yes, I’m talking to you Ned Yost, Dave Eiland, Kevin Seitzer, the entire bullpen, Luis Mendoza…

On second thought, Mendoza, get out of here. You are performing exactly as we expected you to. Your negative impact on the team should more be blamed on the people who continue to put you in position to hurt the team.

OK, where were we…

If you have not yet been excused, then this is directed at you. We are going to address each of you either as the unit you are a part of or individually. Starting with…

-Royals marketing department-Seriously guys…WTF were you thinking? OUR TIME? Our time for what?!? Dayton Moore has tried to tell the fan base that The Process will likely take 7 years. That would put “our time” at approximately 2014. So what on earth possessed you to declare that this year would be OUR TIME?!? This was a big mistake that has contributed to unrealistic expectations.

-Ned Yost-Ned, when we watch you in your post game interviews, we get the feeling that you are very aware of why you were sent packing from a Brewers team that at was in 1st place in September. You have a reputation for being too tightly wound, and over-thinking every situation. That is why we have been somewhat impressed with the way you have maintained your composure (for the most part) in front of the media during this stretch. At the same time though, we don’t want a manager that second-guesses his decisions. We want a manager with conviction, who makes a decision and defends it. Your players need to know that you are decisive and your blabber about having Jose Mijares pitch to Prince Fielder last Wednesday portrayed you as being anything but decisive.  And on top of that, all of the bunts and ill-advised stolen base attempts have gotten completely out of hand.

-Alex Gordon-You seem like a really great guy, Alex, and your baseball talent is off the charts. There is no doubt you are committed to your craft and are an extremely hard worker. That being said, have you ever done anything of note in the major leagues when there was the tiniest amount of pressure being put on you? If you have, we can’t recall. Your best season (by far) was last year, when pretty much everyone had given up on you being the player you were originally expected to be. And it took place in a season when the Royals had pretty much zero expectations of being competitive. It is still only April, and you have come up countless times in late game situations with opportunities to drive in key runs and have consistently come up empty. This is unacceptable.

-Jonathan Sanchez-By this point in your career you should be able to throw strikes. You have demonstrated an extreme inability to do this. It has to get better.

-Luke Hochevar-With the exception of one inning, you have mostly been decent. But that one inning was likely the most important inning of this whole season. Some may say that it was the final inning in the third game agains the Oakland A’s that sent this season spiraling into oblivion, but my feeling is that it was the first half inning in the home opener against Cleveland. To say this half inning was deflating for Royals fans would be a massive understatement.

-The Bullpen-Wasn’t this supposed to be a strength of this team? Between Broxton’s blown save against Oakland, Greg Holland‘s struggles, Jose Mijares’ struggles, and overall inconsistency from everyone else, this has been a train wreck for the most part. Poor pitching out of the pen has been the reason for more than a few of these 10 consecutive losses.

-Jeff Francoeur-What happened to your power, dude? 0 HR’s and 2 RBI’s at the end of April isn’t the type of production this club had in mind from it’s #5 hitter.

-Dave Eiland-Show us where you’ve made a difference with ONE of our pitchers, Dave. Danny Duffy you say? Ok, show us two. In fact, tell us why all of these pitchers who were good last year with Bob McClure as pitching coach are all of a sudden worse this year?

-Kevin Seitzer-We wanted to excuse you, Kevin. But it is time we got some of these guys going. We don’t hold you responsible yet, but if more of these guys don’t start hitting at their potential soon, we will be looking to you for answers.

-Dayton Moore-Where is our return for David DeJesus? So far, it is not appearing that you maximized the return for Melky Cabrera. Where are the rest of the young starting pitchers?  We are not going to beat up on you too much, Dayton. Underperformance is not the General Manager’s fault. But this losing is getting really old.  And this is the second manager you have hand-picked that appears to be on the verge of a mental meltdown.

And finally…

-You, David & Dan Glass…Yes, we understand you have tried to do things better in the last 5 years. But that does not make up for the previous years of ineptitude. And you are the one constant through all of this misery we have had to endure. And now we are going to host the All-Star Game with the worst team in baseball. Talk about embarrassing.

As you can see, we officially have more places to point the finger than all of us not named Antonio Alfonseca have on our 2 hands combined.  It has unfortunately gotten to this point.

*As I finish writing this, the Royals proceed to drop their 11th in a row to go 0-10 at home and 3-13 on the year. :SIGH:

The Royals hoped going into 2012 that competition for most of their positions had come to an end. They hoped now they could focus on developing the players they had in place, growing into a competitive franchise. They hoped this was “Our Time.”

But over the last month, the exact opposite has occurred.

Granted, the Royals have played just 11 games, roughly the equivalent of one game in an NFL season. That’s hardly time to panic.

But what the team hoped would occur (or had occurred) has not come to pass. The waters that they hoped had been calmed have only been muddied.

I am tempted to say that nothing good has happened for the Royals this spring. That might not quite be true, but let’s take a look at the list of things that have taken place:

The Royals hoped the corner-position holdovers from last year would own their respective positions for the next half-decade. Instead Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur and Mike Moustakas have all started very slowly. What the team hoped would be answers continue to look like questions.

The Royals hoped Lorenzo Cain would grab the centerfield job by the throat. He did that during spring training, but then struggled in a handful of games before going down to an injury. The shuffle of Jarrod Dyson, Mitch Maier and Jason Bourgeois keeps that position in flux.

Shortstop is settled, but the team is waiting for Alcides Escobar to rise from passable to elite. He hasn’t made that jump yet.

Second base and catcher are more tricky.

Catcher seemed settled with Salvador Perez. But without him, the team has two guys – Humberto Quintero and Bryan Pena – who were supposed to be merely placeholders for the rightful owner. But rather than struggle, they’ve actually both thrived in their role.

Ironically, both catchers have posted incredibly similar offensive stats. Each stands at .368 with three doubles and a single strikeout.

So when Perez returns, the team will be faced with the difficult choice of who to keep as a backup catcher.

At second, the Royals would have liked for Johnny Giavotella to claim the job outright. He didn’t do that in the spring. So plan B would be for Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz to hold the job until Giavotella shows he’s the long-term answer.

Best case scenario, both Getz and Betancourt fail, opening the door clearly for Giavotella. But that’s not happening. Getz has been just good enough at the plate and field to keep his hat in the ring. Betancourt’s limited range and strikeouts are offset by his occasional pop and versatility (read “he’s equally bad at second, short and third”).

As is often said about quarterbacks, when you have three second basemen, you actually have none.

As for the pitching, the bullpen has been shaky. Luke Hochevar had a flashback to the one-inning speed bumps that plagued him last season. And just when the team hoped to find out if Felipe Paulino is for real or not, he went missing.

As I mentioned, I am tempted to say nothing good has happened for the Royals. But that’s not quite true.

Danny Duffy appears to actually be able to pitch beyond the fourth inning on a regular basis.

And Moustakas doesn’t look nearly as lost as he did last season.

The season is truly still young. There is plenty of time for these youngsters to get it going. But the waters remain murky for the time being. Answers will come, but they haven’t come as quickly as hoped.

And sadly, the answers may not be what we’d hoped for.

With catchers Salvador Perez and Manny Pina being out for 2-3 months with knee injuries, the Kansas City Royals made a trade Tuesday, acquiring catcher Humberto Quintero and outfielder Jason Bourgeois from the Houston Astros for minor league left-hander Kevin Chapman and a player to be named later. To make room for the newest Royals, the team put Perez and Pina on the 60-day disabled list.

Ever since Perez’s injury, the Royals expressed interest to acquire a catcher outside the organization. There were rumors the Royals invited Ivan Rodriguez to camp, but it ended up being just rumors. Instead, the Royals went the trade route, getting Quintero.

The 32 year-old Quintero is a nine-year major league veteran, playing for the San Deigo Padres from 2003-2004 and with the Houston Astros from 2005-2011. He’s been a career backup catcher, appearing in 379 games. Quintero appeared in 88 games in 2010, the most he’s played in a season.

Quintero’s career line is .234/.268/.321, so the Royals didn’t get him for his hitting. They got him for catching and throwing ability and his major league experience. For now, Quintero expects to play two to four days a week, splitting playing time with Brayan Pena.

It was clear the Royals didn’t see Max Ramirez as a solution, despite his good spring offensive numbers. In fact, Ramirez only started a handful of spring training games as a catcher, so the Royals didn’t have much faith in his catching abilities. Cody Clark doesn’t have major league catching experience and it’s likely the Royals believe Clark would be a better fit for AAA Omaha, where they also need catching help.

There is one concern and hopefully it’s a minor one. This spring, Quintero was out with a bulging disk in his back but returned to action over the weekend. At least it’s not his knee.

As for Bourgeois, the 30 year-old outfielder has four years in the majors, playing for the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Astros. Bourgeois played 192 major league games in his career with a .262/.307/.324 line with 431 plate appearances and 22 RBIs. His speed and versatility are his main assets, with 46 career stolen bases, with 31 of those in 2011. Bourgeois also hits well against left-handers, with a .328 batting average compared to .205 against right-handers.

Bourgeois is not a everyday player, so Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Francoeur have little to worry about. But with his versatility of playing all outfield positions and some second base, players like Mitch Meier and Jarrod Dyson have some competition for the reserve outfielder job. Who knows, maybe Manager Ned Yost might have Bourgeois in the second base mix between Johnny Giavotella, Chris Getz and Yuni Betancourt. It is spring training after all.

Probably not. The Royals see Bourgeois as a right-handed reserve outfielder who’s a cross between Meier and Dyson. The odd man out in this situation could be Dyson, who bats from the left side but doesn’t have the versatility of a Bourgeois.

Both Bourgeois and Dyson have options remaining, so it’s likely one of them makes the Opening Day roster and the other one goes to Omaha. If Bourgeois goes to Omaha, he would serve as outfield depth in case someone get injured. If Dyson goes to Omaha, he would get more playing time, perhaps improving his chances of developing into an everyday outfielder. If either player makes the Royals roster, it will be as a reserve outfielder.

The Astros get Chapman, a 24 year-old left-handed relief pitcher who played two seasons with A+ Wilmington and AA Northwest Arkansas. His career ERA is high at 5.06, and he gave up 9.1 hits per nine innings. But his strikeouts per nine innings is 12.4, so Chapman gets a lot of strikeouts. Chapman projects to be a reliever if he makes it to the majors. And that could be soon, since he’s with the Astros.

The other player the Astros get is our old friend player to be named later. It’s uncertain who it is, but according to Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, this player was a big reason the Astros did the trade. Don’t worry, Royals fans, it’s doubtful the PTBNL are either outfielders Bubba Starling, Wil Myers or pitcher Jake Odorizzi. It better not be, if Dayton Moore wants to keep his job. And if Royals fans want to keep their sanity.

Quintero and Bourgeois are not long-term solutions for the Royals. Quintero was acquired to fill the gap of Perez and Pina being gone for half the season and Bourgeois was acquired to provide outfield depth and perhaps give Dyson and Meier some competition as a reserve outfielder. For now, they fill some holes, if nothing else.

ROYALS ACQUIRE CATCHER QUINTERO, OUTFIELDER BOURGEOIS FROM HOUSTON FOR PITCHER CHAPMAN AND A PLAYER TO BE NAMED

SURPRISE, AZ  (March 20, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals today announced that the club has acquired catcher Humberto Quintero and outfielder Jason Bourgeois from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor league pitcher Kevin Chapman and a minor league player to be named.  To make room on the Royals 40-man roster, the club placed catchers Salvador Perez (surgery on left knee for torn meniscus) and Manuel Pina (surgery on right knee for torn meniscus) on the 60-Day Disabled List.

The 32-year-old Quintero (full name is pronounced “hum-BEAR-toe” “kin-TEAR-o”) is a nine-year Major League veteran of the San Diego Padres (2003-04) and Houston Astros (2005-11).  The right-handed hitter batted .240 (63-for-262) with 12 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 25 RBI and 22 runs scored in 79 games with the Astros in 2011.  In 379 career games, Quintero is a .234 hitter with 15 home runs and 94 RBI.  Defensively, he has a career fielding percentage of .992 and has thrown out 53 of 192 attempted basestealers for a 27.6 percent clip.  The five-foot-nine, 216-pounder is originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, but currently resides in Pearland, Texas.

Bourgeois (pronounced “Boosh-wah”), 30, played in a career-best 93 games for Houston last season, batting .294 (70-for-238) with eight doubles, two triples, one home run, 16 RBI and 30 runs scored.  The speedy and versatile outfielder also recorded 31 stolen bases in 37 attempts while playing all three outfield positions.  In his four-year big league career with the White Sox (2008), Brewers (2009) and Astros (2010-11), Bourgeois compiled a .262 average in 192 games with 46 steals in 56 attempts.  The right-handed hitter is a career .369 (61-for-186) batter against left-handed pitching.  Born and raised in Houston, Texas, he was originally a second-round selection of the Texas Rangers in 2000.

Chapman, 24, split the 2011 season between Wilmington (High A) and Northwest Arkansas (AA).  He was the club’s fourth-round selection in the 2010 Draft out of the University of Florida.